The “May Day” holiday in 2016 plays greater driving role in boosting tourism and outbound tourism remains popular with Seoul, Bangkok and Tokyo ranking as the top three overseas tourist destinations for China's May Day holidaymakers, according to information recently released by the China National Tourism Administration (CNTA). Industry insiders point out that China’s tourism enterprises’ faster movement in making arrangement at abroad is also an important reason pushing up the continuous growth of outbound tourism.
The China’s Tourism Development: Analysis and Forecast (2015-2016), also known as the Green Book of China’s Tourism, recently released by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), shows that China’s tourism enterprises make great strides in overseas expansion in terms of both fields and regions. As to the investment in tourism, China totally invested 1,007.2 billion yuan in 2015, up 42 percent from a year earlier.
The overseas merger and acquisition conducted by Chinese enterprises in 2015 got larger in size and quicker in pace. HNA Group, Fosun Group, China National Travel Service (HK) Group Corporation, Beijing UTour International Travel Service Co., Ltd. and etc. conducted multiple acquisitions worldwide. Online travel agencies including Tuniu.com and Ctrip.com also speeded up the arrangement at abroad. For instance, HNA Group acquired the leasing business of Australia ALLCO Finance Group Ltd. as well as the equities of Hna-caissa Travel Group Co., Ltd. (000796.SZ) and Spanish hotel chain NH; Jin Jiang International (Holdings) Co., Ltd. acquired Interstate Hotels & Resorts and Louvre Hotels Group; Wanda Group completed a slew of acquisitions in the U.K., Spain, the U.S., Australia and etc.; Fosun International Limited acquired part of the equities of Club Med; China National Travel Service (HK) acquired Kew Green Hotel in the U.K. with about 400 million pounds.
The Green Book of China’s Tourism also points out that large-scale enterprises further speeded up expansion in tourism industry in 2015. Real estate enterprises ranking top 5 across the country made investment in tourism complex, national-level tourist resorts, starred hotels, international brand hotels, large-scale theme parks and etc. Eight of the top 10 venture capital companies in China were involved in the investment in tourism industry. Large-scale enterprises engaged in energy, water conservancy, electric appliances, agriculture, insurance and etc. all started investment in tourism in succession.
In 2015, domestic tourism received 4 billion person-time of tourists and recorded a revenue of 3.6 trillion yuan, while outbound tourism received 120 million person-time of tourists, according to the Green Book of China’s Tourism. The huge demand for tourism greatly supports China’s social economy. Chinese immense zeal on outbound tourism attracts the attention of the whole world.
Lu Shanbing, professor at the economy and management school of Northwest University, expresses the view that as people’s living standard improves and China’s economy develops, the pillar role of tourism industry in national economy will be further reinforced. As acquisition booms, the impact of capital on industrial structure cannot be ignored. It is estimated that more capital will swarm into the tourism industry, so the competition in the industry will accordingly become increasingly fierce.
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